004✖; (audio @ hot.damn | August 2nd; during Sanguis Moon)

[circumitus]

[...Well, it looks like there's supposed to be video, but the screen is black.

[Audio-wise, you're privy to just a bunch of thrashing for a few seconds, catching a frantic and frustrated "god-DAMMIT" and "fuck fuck fuck" and "just move, you useless piece of shit!" It's a voice and string of expletives that should be familiar to some who know Rey. In general it sounds disconcerting, with an identifiable amount of metal clanging and other hefty objects hurling about (cue stock cat scream) -- before a heavy thud shakes the screen. The feed drags across what looks to be pavement and some scattered rubbish.]

Got you! Fucking finally...

[The video moves, but the feed remains a blur as Rey hadn't intended to select facetime before things got out of control -- by "things" meaning... her own body. Only a few details can be made out in the bleary visual quality, and that's a patch of red-orange scales and some sharp, gritting teeth.]

Need... help. [Despite her exhaustion made clear in the fraught audio and her labored breaths, it's speaking those words in particular that strains her the most.]

Have to come here. Level Three.

Legs're gone. Can't walk.

[Both the audio and visual then cuts abruptly. As you can tell, Rey is having a bad time this Sanguis cycle.]

Comments

[action]

[circumitus]

[No answer, though she gets the message. It's a tight fit in the alley; Rey is used to cramp spaces. She doesn't like them, but she's used to them.

[What she isn't used to is having so much extra... parts to contend with. So when Marshall finds her (and she's not hard to find, even in a place as big as Level 3. If the sounds of her struggle wasn't enough to draw attention, words from Prismals of the angry snake lady flailing in the back of a restaurant would do it.

[Bleeding from her nose and cut lip after thrashing to control her lower half, she's only just recently managed to push her back against the building wall so she can stop and just breathe.]

...

That was quick.

[Before she can press further, she grinds her teeth as her lower half -- entirely that of a red viper's body from the waist down -- flinches.]

[littlesundog]

[Everything must have been strange to the people in this town on some level. Newcomers left and right, women who couldn't control their bodies, men who were soft spoken yet cut an impressive figure in the crowd. Removing his hat and setting it on the dirty pavement for a moment, Marshall reached into a jacket and dug out a folded up handkercheif.]

I was in the area,

[He commented-- and darted his gaze toward the other end of her person with that flinch. Brow raising, Marshall turned back to face her.]

You're not used to shifting into a snake, are you? Where do you want to go?

[circumitus]

[Hands pressed on either side of her to keep her balanced upright against the wall, Rey relaxes only about as much as she allows herself when she casts a sidelong glance to realize that... she doesn't know this guy.

[Of course she didn't look at the fucking network ID.]

Anywhere but here.

[Pause.]

Preferably out in the open than inside.

[littlesundog]

[He's done stranger than assist snake women he didn't know in recent days, Marshall mused. This hardly topped whatever was going on during that train ride he was on before he arrived in this city.

This hardly topped what he saw before he left ranch country, too.]

I don't know this place well, but we can find something that'll work.

Here-- clean yourself off. Ya look like you've seen hell.

[Offering an arm so she could support herself or guide him where needed, he offered her time.

After all, he had plenty.];

[circumitus]

[Taking a moment to wipe the fresh cuts from her face, Rey doesn't wince from the pain but her jaw tenses at her circumstances. There aren't many instances in which she ever had to call for help, but that seems to be an occasional theme since she ended up here. Being alone on a completely alien planet that doesn't reward self-reliance, she'd almost take the chaos of violence than... whatever the fuck she's dealing with now.

[She mutters a "thanks" as she finishes, then casts a reluctant look at his arm.]

You sure? Might be, ah-- heavier, than usual. Wouldn't want you getting a hernia.

[A first attempt at levity, but she's also serious. Her normal body is excessively heavier than she looks due to her cybernetic components underneath all the flesh and bone. How would her own biology factor in to whatever the hell is happening to her body right now?]

[littlesundog]

[She looked tired, Marshall mused silently as he watched her get cleaned up. It was the simple matters, like a supportive arm, that separated those who understood basic civility from those that didn't-- and, in a place this foreign, they all needed a hand up every once in a while.]

I'm stronger than I look,

[He quipped, offering a wry smile. At 6'3", he towered over most people he knew, and years of odd jobs and cattle running had left him with a wirey strength in his movements.]

But... I'll admit that I cannot lift a train.

We'll follow your lead, if that'll make ya more comfortable. Do ya just need a shoulder to lean on or something more?

[circumitus]

[After floundering around for some time when you wake up realizing you can't stand on your own two feet because you only have one now... Yeah, Rey has worked herself up into exhaustion. She doesn't work up a sweat normally, but the moon cycles affect her differently.]

Don't need to be carried out bridal style, if that's what you're asking. [Rey grunts as she tries to shift from where she's "sitting" on the ground. Her tail winds and coils under her, and all down the alley after her.

[A whole twenty-five feet of extra snake bod.]

Just shoulder, to help stand. Hopefully. [She pauses, trying to balance herself upright without grabbing the wall and failing. Is this what babies' first walks are like? Because she's never even been a baby before.] Snakes... do stand, don't they?

[littlesundog]

Snakes can climb trees,

[He said, in a tone that suggested that he had to climb a few in order to hunt down the more dangerous examples out of necessity.]

I'm sure however they get up there is the same thing that'll help you stand. You've... Sure got the length to manage something impressive.

[circumitus]

...

[squint]

How do they do that? [Spoken more in a hushed voice to herself than to him. One more thing she's going to have to figure out.

[Now, back on point:] All right, can do that...

[As she says this, she attempts to use the muscles where her legs would be to bend at the knees in order to stand up. Only it feels more like she's in a perpetual state of doing the crane pose. One hand still presses to the wall for support, but she does manage to start standing at a more normal height for her...

[Even taller, than she's used to, actually. Trying to hold her upper body erect while her tip of her tail lashes and beats a trash can into the alley is a Lot, okay?]

[littlesundog]

Carefully. They're more tail than body.

[But, replacing his hat back upon his head, he rose to brace the woman as she rose to a height taller than he stood. It was impressive-- she was impressive.]

Careful, [He said, noticing her tail twitching with the effort at the end of the alley.] I've got ya until you figure this out.

[circumitus]

[That's definitely something Rey is quickly learning on her own -- she's more tail than body now. She never thought she'd ever have to consciously think about how she'd control her own limbs if she woke up one day with several feet more of them, but...

[Well, here we are.

[Hesitant at first, she ends up taking this guy up on his offer. Because it's either that or she falls flat on her face again, and that's not an episode she's eager to repeat if she can help it. It's enough to get her out of that one alleyway, at least.]

You help out randoms learn how to "walk" again on the regular, or is this a special occasion? [Sometimes, her own piss poor attempts at levity is the best thing she can do to not end up hyper-focused on how goddamned awkward she feels. That's just how she do.]

[littlesundog]

[A chuckle. He could appreciate those sentiments.]

Only in strange cities with strange moons,

[He quipped back, allowing her attempts at levity to continue their flow while they maneuvered their way to a place more open. Everyone struggled at various points-- and who was he to judge? Having faced his own challenges recently, he knew a little about what having your legs taken out from under you felt like-- as a metaphor, if nothing more.]

[circumitus]

[Now that she's no longer floundering around like a dying fish out of its water, Rey doesn't have to hyperfixate on how she's supposed to navigate every new muscle in her currently extended body. She still can't help but wobble as she tries to remain upright as best as possible, with mixed results. Good news is, she's more motivated not to just fall on her face every time she's feeling a little off kilter.

[Weirdly enough, she feels lighter in some ways. Not as dense or solid like she's used to. It would make sense, given how the aforementioned strange moons can change their physiology so much.]

Hn, yeah... Starting to wonder how much these cycles affect our original biology.

[She wouldn't really know unless she gets torn open -- or an X-ray. The latter probably more preferred, in this case.]

[littlesundog]

[He frowned quietly, pondering that comment. Truly, he knew little of what these strange moons did to their bodies. Animalistic changes seemed to be the key item, but what else could happen?

His arms remained unwavering as she wobbled while they moved. No need to embarrass someone on first meeting-- and he knew well what that felt like.]

So long as you've a mind, the body can be worked with.

...Unless you're saying that these moons affect our thinking too?

[circumitus]

[That's... oof. Not something Rey entirely is sure how to answer.]

...Kind of?

[It at least gives her something else to think about while her body subconsciously does the work for her. Like walking and talking, except maybe whatever "snake" side of her brain already knows how to operate when she's not actively obsessing over it.]

Instincts sometimes, um. Change. During the cycles. Some handle it better than others. [Rey does her best to avoid her more carnal Sanguis urges.]

[littlesundog]

...So, something like that Wolfman I met recently.

[Marshall commented, glacing between the movements of her massive tail and the hard expression on her face.]

He went mad during the full moon, when his body changed to something not Human. Our... Boss, I suppose-- called it some kinda curse that he found himself with in the Parisian Catacombs.

I never understood why a bustling city is built upon the cavernous graves of centuries worth of the Dead, but people are funny. Maybe the land around the city was too hard to build on. Maybe the waters of the Seine were perfect right in that spot.

Doesn't matter here, though.

[circumitus]

[If someone were to just casually throw around "Wolfman" before, Rey would would look at them as though they had grown a second head that spoke Greek. For someone who's contended with sentient machines that often took various forms and functions, she should be used to hearing and seeing weird things like that. It still throws her off.]

Wait, that shit's normal where you're from? [Rey's mouth tightens into a thin line, too distracted to notice that her tail muscles have begun moving in an accordion-like motion across the ground.

[As usual, it's easier to do something if she doesn't put too much thinking to it. Easier said than done, though.]

Wouldn't be too sure that it doesn't matter. Moons can make people do crazy shit sometimes. Not the same for everyone. Still, that's more experience with that kind of thing than most of us have before landing here.

[It's definitely more than Rey was ever prepared to deal with.]

[littlesundog]

[Have an arched brow.]

I, uh... wouldn't call it Normal.

[Far from it; he hadn't even known of their existence in his homeland until recent weeks-- before he was spirited off to this dazzling town that was both blinding and deafening to those who were accustomed to nights so dark that the Milky Way spread like a river of stardust across the infinite void that was the night sky.]

Truth is, I'm not certain how normal that is at all. But it is here, so we've just gotta buck up and learn how to handle it.

[circumitus]

[scoff]

"Buck up"? [...Okay, that kind of gets her.] Wow, really selling your cowboy persona, aren't you?

[Sorry, Marshall. She's got to have something else to think about other than dwelling on how fucking weird it is to be dragging around several extra feet of yourself.]

[littlesundog]

I'd be better paid if this was an act.

[He said, a wry smile on his face.]

It's likely hard for most here to believe... But that's fine. We all get to see something new.

[circumitus]

[Rather than getting embarrassed and taking it back, Rey just makes a "pff" noise.]

Tend to be from a much later time than most here, but you've got to be really far back. Got a brother who's a spaghetti western affictionatto, he'd be all over that.

[Well, maybe Orion would've had more restraint than Rey does. He was better at being a normal person -- or at least pretending to be one.]

[littlesundog]

[While she was laughing, Marshall just looked confused.]

The 1880s ain't too far, right? And what does Spaghetti have to do with the Frontier?

[circumitus]

[Now she's even more amused.] Sure, if you consider something close to three-hundred years not too far off.

[She shrugs a scaly shoulder.]

Isn't literal spaghetti. Just films directed by Italians, is all. [Duh.]

[littlesundog]

Film? I thought that was something the French were working on with that... God, what was it called?

[He rubbed the back of his neck with a free hand uneasily, trying to recall the word.]

eh... 'cinematographe'. They say it's a hand cranked machine, but word is that Edison is trying to make one that's better.

[circumitus]

Cinemato--

[Rey blinks.

[Then snorts, stifling a laugh.]

Yeah, those have come a long way since Edison's days. It's all digital now, no cranks necessary.